Fresh City Life: WordNerds at Novo Coffee (Wednesday, free) If you're part of a family of die-hard Scrabble-aholics, you might be dreading heading over to your parents house for Thanksgiving -- but there is one sure-fire way to get your brain in shape: WordNerds. With a little pregame practice on Wednesday, you might finally be able to take that cocky cousin from Tulsa.
Dance Giving at Vinyl (1082 Broadway, Wednesday, free) With tons of food, lounging around and day-drinking on the horizon for Thursday, we're pretty sure you can afford to kick it all night long at Vinyl on Wednesday night. You'll have three floors of music to choose from and the big bonus of being able to sleep in as late as you damn well please the next day.
Mile High United Way Turkey Trot (South Franklin Street at Louisiana Avenue in Washington Park, free) Whether you're looking for wholesome family fun or campy holiday weirdness on Thanksgiving, chances are you'll find something at the 37th annual Mile High United Way Turkey Trot. Yes, it may be $40 to register for this four-mile run, but to watch is to be free. You can even take your turkey leg on the lawn and nosh on the meat stick while you watch runners hit the pavement. And that is truly something to be thankful for. Zeta Kaye House Thanksgiving at Beauty Bar (608 E. 13th, Thursday, free) Just because Thanksgiving is on Thursday doesn't mean you can't get your party on later in the evening. In fact, DJ's, wacky drink specials and no cover encourage it. Seriously, after Grandma's immigration rant you can certainly use a drink, no?Buy Nothing Day at your own house (Friday, free) Buy Nothing Day is the best kind of holiday, because you don't have to do anything. All you need to do is sit down on the couch, read a book, watch a movie (one you already own of course, although we're not sure if renting is allowed) and relax. Now that's a holiday.
Black Friday Silent Dance Party at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center (Friday, free) Just in case the Black Friday mobs aren't enough on their own, this Friday there's going to be a bonus: A dancing flash mob will be tossed into the mix as well. All you need to do is download a free mix of music, show up and dance. Of course, there's a reasonable chance that the mob at Cherry Creek Mall will be so absurd no one will even notice you. Fried Nothing Invades Club 404 at Club 404 (Friday, free) Comedy is hard, but that doesn't mean everyone shouldn't give it a try now and again. That's where the folks from Fried Nothing come in. They try really hard and maybe they'll make you laugh tonight at Club 404. Hell, it's free, so even if you only snort once it'll be worth your money. Primitives at Plus Gallery (Saturday, Free) This Saturday is your final chance to check out Mike Whiting's pixel-inspired sculptures. The premise is simple: take the early video game pixel, which was a small square, and make sculptures inspired by them, then contrast that with the more modern technology, which uses triangles to render graphics, or "trixels," as we like to call them, and make some sculptures based on that. It's nerdy and high-brow at the same time.Noches en la Catedral at the Church (1160 Lincoln Street, Saturday, Free) Your New Year's Resolution last year was to learn how to salsa dance, right? We get it, it's been a busy year, the kids were starting a new thing, and your job was hectic. But the year is almost over, so maybe it's time you grabbed that resolution by the balls. You can take free salsa lessons starting at 9:30 p.m. tonight. No more excuses.
Charles Deas and 1840s America at Denver Art Museum (Sunday, $3-$10) Today is the last day you'll have a chance to see Charles Deas' amazing paintings of America. It might seem traditional on first glance, but his paintings showcased what Western art could do. Plus he was committed to an insane asylum, so maybe you'll be able to spot some tell-tale signs of crazy.
